As a result of YAPC::NA 10, I was inspired to get more involved in Social Media. The idea is to promote and learn about new technologies through Social Media while injecting a sane, intelligent under current of Modern Perl.
I finally started to use my Twitter account. I’ve noticed the majority of tweets regarding Perl refer to it as torturous or antiquated or both. These tweets are not coming from the Perl echo-chamber of Perl Monks, Perl Mongers, and Perl Conference attendees, but from programmers exposed to Perl against their will. This leaves a bad taste in their mouth, and when they hear “Perl,” their frame of reference is sadly the Matt’s Scripts Era of Perl Development.
I’m using TweetDeck, and I’ve created a search column for “perl.” It gets a decent amount of traffic everyday. I don’t have the time to respond to or even read every tweet about Perl, but I skim them maybe 4 or 5 times a day to find people with Perl problems or Perl frustration and point them in a better direction. If you’re comfortable providing this type of assistance, I’d recommend TweetDeck with the “perl” Search Column as an interesting way to proselytize for Perl. It does mean you’ll be subjected to the occasional teen ranting about “Perl Jam,” and of course you’ll likely writhe in agony at the number of times you see Perl referred to as “PERL.” But if enough of the echo chamber is inundating the Twitterverse with intelligent, modern Perl advice, we might gain even more traction in the Social Media arena.
If you do tweet about Perl, follow HashTags and tag your tweet with “#perl“.
Just a thought, as I haven’t been able to hack in Perl in a few weeks due to other more pressing issues.
